Olympus Divided
by Contramancer
Summary: Response to the Huntress challenge by whitetigerwolf. AU from Titan's Curse. When Annabeth joins the Hunters of Artemis after Mt Tamalpais, Percy asks Artemis to change him into something that can follow her. The goddess grants his boon, not realising she has turned him into a girl! How does this affect the Prophecy, and more important, Persi? fem!Percy, PJ/AC, possibly PJ/AC/Art.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ I apologise, but I do not own the characters, world or concepts presented in the Percy Jackson books, including and not limited to both the '_Percy Jackson and the Olympians_' and the '_Heroes of Olympus_' series. Those belong solely to Rick Riordan, not that I'd turn them down, mind you. The story I write here is solely for enjoyment, both mine and others, and I get nothing from this except the warm fuzzy feelings from a story told well... I hope.

* * *

**HUNTRESS CHALLENGE**

_This Idea popped into my head randomly. But I was reading some Pertemis fanfiction, where Artemis was contemplating turning someone into an animal, and I thought, if she can turn people into animals, what's to stop her from turning a guy into a girl? Hence this Challenge._

**Requirements:**

Artemis turns Percy Jackson into a girl. [Confirmed.]

Poseidon must hit on the female Percy, before he realises that Percy is his...uh, son/daughter? (That's kinda confusing actually. Although, considering this is dealing with the Ancient Greek Gods, that wouldn't necessarily keep Poseidon from trying to get in a female Percy's pants not that I exactly like the idea, but I do feel I need to point that out.) [Confirmed, sort of.]

Percy must spend some time with the Hunters of Artemis. [Confirmed.]

Percy must remain a girl for at least one-month. [Confirmed: Artemis' transformation of Percy cannot be reversed.]

**Recommended**

FemPercy/other girl, especially Artemis though. [Confirmed: The story is weighted for Percabeth, with potential for Silver Percabeth (add Artemis to the couple) at a later point.]

Percy remaining a girl and joining the Hunters of Artemis. [Confirmed, partial: As mentioned above, the transformation is PERMANENT. Joining the Hunt... well, we shall see.]

* * *

_**Olympus Divided: First Book of the Huntress.**_

* * *

**Persi:**

_Sometimes I wonder if it could have been different, if the Titan War could have played out differently, and everything that came after. I wonder what it would have been like if Annabeth had made another choice that day long ago on Mount Othrys. Who died that would now live, or who lived that would now die? I am not naive enough to think that no-one would die, it was a war, and that's what happens, but were there fewer deaths, or more? Did we still win? Was it worth it?_

_They say that only the Fates and the Oracle know what is yet to come, and they love being cryptic...but maybe they can't tell us directly? Maybe they are just as helpless as we are to change things, or even less able to do so. Annabeth once told me about something called the Observer Principle, where by seeing something, you change it, and it can also change you. What if the Fates and Oracles _see_ these things, and are forced to comply with it, so they _can't_ change it, and all they can do is hand out riddles and enigmas and mysteries in a blind attempt to allow someone else to change it all. But then, thinking isn't really my strong point. Just ask anyone._

_Maybe, in some other world, Annabeth didn't join the Hunters. Maybe there, I didn't follow her where no man can go, and together we rallied the half-bloods against the Titans and rescued Olympus against everything Luke and Kronos threw at us. Maybe we fell in love and eventually married, or maybe we were thrown into Tartarus... or one of us was, and the other followed them._

_So what's the point of all this? I'm not sure myself. But maybe, if I start at the beginning, that fateful day, that single choice, on Mount Othrys, I can figure it out. If you can figure it out first, let me know, okay?_

_My name is Persephone Jackson, Poseidon's daughter, and it all begins like this..._

* * *

_**Chapter 1: A Life Changing Event.**_

On top of Mount Othrys, which occupied the same space as Mount Tamalpais in California, a battle had been waged and won... but it had cost them. The small band of Hunters and heroes who had come to rescue Artemis, goddess of the Moon, and the hunt, had succeeded, but the quest had taken the lives of two of their number. Bianca diAngelo had perished in one of Hephaestus' junkyards long before reaching San Francisco, and Artemis had just turned Zoe Nightshade into a constellation after she died of the poisoned wound her father had given her before the group had managed to force him back into his punishment of holding up the sky.

Artemis stood, for all that the goddess of maidens looked like a twelve-year-old, she still had an impressive presence. "I must go to Olympus immediately," she said. "I am not able to take you, but I will send help."

She set her hand on the shoulder of the blonde demigod Atlas had used to trap her, Annabeth Chase, Wisdom's daughter. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what's right." She looked quizzically at the black-haired girl, a daughter of Zeus called Thalia Grace, as if unsure of what to make of her, until the girl's blue eyes met the goddess' golden gaze, and Artemis' face softened with sympathy. Then she turned her eyes on the last of those who weren't hunters, not including Annabeth's father, a mortal professor who seemed easily distracted. That last was a fourteen year old demigod with jet-black hair and sea-green eyes named Percy Jackson, although a lock of grey marred his hair, testament to his holding the sky so Artemis could fight the Titan general. He squirmed a little under the gaze of the goddess, until she spoke. "You did well," she said. "For a man."

Percy noticed that she hadn't called him a boy, and left it at that. As Artemis climbed into her silver chariot, Annabeth finished wrestling with her thoughts, over a weighty matter.

"Wait," she called, her tone catching the attention of the goddess. "Lady Artemis... I... I wish to petition to join your hunters."

Percy was dumbstruck, and frozen in shock. Annabeth, a Hunter of Artemis? He had such trouble wrapping his mind around the concept, he barely heard the words that followed.

"Are you certain, Athena's daughter?" the goddess asked. "you know what it entails, the price of what you ask, and you still want it?" The grey-eyed blonde nodded. "Then I grant it. You must speak the oath, and there is little time to talk to your friends before you must leave them."

Annabeth again nodded, and went to explain to her father what was happening. Taking advantage of this, Thalia turned to Percy. "What do _you_ think about this?" she asked. "You really like her, don't you? Are you going to let her just walk out of your life?"

Percy sighed. "That's _why_ I'd let her go, Thals," he replied, turning the ballpoint pen that was Anaklusmos end-over-end as he spoke in a soft voice. "If this is what she wants, then I support her every step of the way... even when it hurts. I'd go with her if I could..." his voice trailed off in thought, and Thalia could be excused for believing it a dejected silence. Then Annabeth stood before Percy, and further discussion between the daughter of Zeus and the son of Poseidon was no longer feasible.

"So, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth began, a little pain in her voice. Percy doubted it was his imagination that said she was bothered by this. "I guess you want to know why, huh?"

"If you want to tell me, Wise Girl," he said, worry creasing his brow. "if you don't, then it's your business. Although I _am_ curious."

Annabeth sighed, and Percy was even more worried. "When Luke tricked me into taking the sky from him, and he used me as bait for Lady Artemis, he hurt me, Percy." Her voice was low, anguished, and her friend had to strain to hear her. "When he taunted me for foolishness, when I begged for his life, I felt like he was laughing at me, like I was being tricked again. He spoke about my Dad, and the gods and their ways, and I started to think he was right, and then _you _showed up and proved him wrong, and I still couldn't let him go. That hurt _you_, Percy, and don't deny it. So I'd rather I hurt you a little now, so you can get over it, than keep hurting you until one day you can't. You have Thalia now, she can be a better friend to you than I can... I'm sorry, Percy. Good-bye."

Without a word, she strode to where Artemis waited in her chariot, and spoke her pledge. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis, I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt." There was no need for prompting, and no hesitation. To Percy, it reminded him eerily of Bianca's oath-giving, even down to Artemis accepting it. Time seemed to freeze as his mind raced, his memory, little relied upon, slamming a number of myths and legends into his thoughts... Actaeon... Callisto... As was Percy's habit he acted on his thoughts as soon as he had them.

"Lady Artemis, may I ask a favour?" he said, and braced himself mentally as the irritated goddess turned to face him.

"You may ask, but I cannot say I will grant it," she said shortly. "Time is of the essence and we are wasting it."

He swallowed, and continued. "You changed Actaeon and Callisto into animals, a stag and a bear, I think, both as a punishment. As an animal, I would no longer be a man, and could follow Annabeth with your Hunt. Please?"

Artemis stared at him. To be fair, the Hunters, Thalia and Annabeth were also staring, but that was in slack-jawed wonder. He would do that, bear the curse of a goddess, just to follow his friend? Did he love her _that _much, as a friend... or maybe something more? "You ask that of me?" Artemis said slowly. "You would abandon your manhood, and become a beast, just to be with a friend? Why, Perseus Jackson? Why would you do that?"

Percy looked inside himself. There were many reasons, he knew, but the wrong ones would see him left as he was, and without Annabeth, that would be a disaster. He needed her. Her advice, her help, looking out for him... inspiring him...

"I'm only fourteen," he answered, "and not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'm sure there's some easy answer to say it, but I don't know what it is, and we don't have time for me to go looking for it. But... she was my first real friend at camp, even if we didn't realise it at the time. We made a great team, and I'd miss that, but I'd miss _her_ more, if you can understand that. Without her at Camp Half-blood, I just wasn't as interested in anything. It was like some place else entirely when she wasn't there. But there's more to it that _that_, too. It's like I'm not me, without her to measure myself against. I... I don't know _what _I'm trying to say... Maybe it's my fatal flaw or something. But I need to be where she is." He raised his eyes to meet Artemis' own. "Whatever it takes." Another memory, from earlier that year, came to the front of his mind. "Even if it means I get turned into a jackalope."

There were tears pouring down Annabeth's cheeks by the time he'd finished, and he could make out his own name in her voice if he strained his hearing hard enough. Thalia's gaze held admiration, and sympathy, for her cousin. Even Artemis' eyes were a little moist. "This is usually a punishment for those who trespass against me," she said. "No-one has _ever_ asked for it. You are a very unusual man, Perseus Jackson. I grant you your boon, and place you in the form of that which will help your friend in the Hunt best." There was a flare of silver light, and Artemis and her chariot disappeared, even as Percy blacked out.

* * *

Even as Artemis vanished, the flare of silver light blinded Annabeth, Thalia, the other Hunters, and Dr Chase. Blinking their eyes to recover, they made their way to where Percy lay on the ground, encased in a cocoon of silver light that obscured that which lay within. The light was... solid, in an ethereal way, and Annabeth spent a few moments struggling with the inherent contradiction. What Artemis had set in motion could not be changed, and she was forced to content herself with muttering at him inside the cocoon. "Percy, you fool... you really _are_ a Seaweed Brain, aren't you?" He'd been the one person, more than any other, that she'd feared would be most hurt by her joining the Hunters of Artemis. He was her best friend, even including Thalia, and she'd worried he'd see this as rejecting _him_, rather than stepping back to let him grow.

And now, he wouldn't ever be what he was again. She knew that much about the curse of Artemis. If she used it as a punishment, she chose a particular form to give the victim, and it had never been given as a reward before. She started thinking on what she needed most to help her in the Hunt, her mind running ahead, flickering onto many tangents as she did. She'd need a loyal companion... a hound? A hawk? A panther or hunting cat? She didn't know...

Giving _that_ up as a bad idea, she instead focused on the changing shape within the light, trying to figure out what Percy would be that way, even as Thalia pointed out three pegasi rapidly approaching. She recognised Percy's favourite steed, the one he called Blackjack, but couldn't understand what the winged horse was trying to say.

* * *

Percy drifted on the seas of his own mind. Now and then a question arose, lazily drifting across the seascape of his mind. "What would she need?" the question came. "Someone to trust, to talk to, to share her life with," he answered.

"How will you hunt?" he was asked. "By her side," he replied. Again and again the queries were put to him, and each time his answer centred around Annabeth. He wasn't sure why there was such exasperation building in the tone of whoever was asking these questions. Finally, they seemed to get the idea that if it was what _she_ needed to be happy, then that's what he was fine being, the questions ceased.

Then he was aware of a very familiar pegasus' voice: _Dang it, boss, you're lying down on the job! Wake up, would you?_

* * *

Percy opened his eyes, and immediately knew something had gone wrong. His shirt was tighter across the chest, and looser around the waist, and his jeans were similarly tight about his hips. There was a distressing emptiness in his underwear, too. He still had arms and hands, and as he uncurled from his foetal position, he realised 'he' was going to need to get used to a whole new set of pronouns, even as the cocoon of silvery light faded. Percy Jackson was a girl now...

Annabeth and Thalia were stunned, and the Hunters of Artemis, while less so, were still somewhat startled. Dr Chase blinked twice and started muttering about the interesting nature of the changes the reborn demigoddess had undergone, until Annabeth glared at him. When Percy had straightened out, they were fairly sure he was still human... ish. Now that the light was gone they could see the changes. Physically, they were obvious. His hard-earned athleticism was still there, it was just... softer, not as blatant. He'd always had more of a swimmer's build anyway. 'His' hair was the same jet-black it had always been, it was just longer, reaching down to 'his' hips now, and 'his' eyes remained that brilliant sea-green. The most obvious outward change were the breasts. They weren't large, about the same size as Annabeth's, but they were unsupported, and it was winter... Percy pulled 'his' jacket shut and zipped it up to conceal the problem. The grey streak in 'his' hair had grown longer with the rest of 'his' hair, and was now more of a lunar silver than a mere grey. The facial features were very similar to the original Percy, but softer and more feminine.

"What happened?" Percy asked. "Why am I not an animal?"

Thalia tore her eyes away from Percy's changes, mentally revising how she saw her friend in a few moments. "Artemis changed you, alright, if that's what you're worried about," she began.

"Well, duh," came the witty response. Percy's voice was now a little higher, a little softer. The name still fit, but the mental spelling shifted a little, finally clicking as 'Persi', although what that would be short for would have to wait.

Thalia continued her explanation. "This change is intended to be a curse, and Lady Artemis has never used it as a blessing before. She said for you to become, and I quote 'what will help your friend in the Hunt best', so the magic ran amok with you. I guess this," here she waved her hand at Persi, "was what will help her best."

Annabeth finally worked up the nerve to speak. "Why did you do that? What, in the name of Olympus, possessed you to ask that?" She was very worked up, and it seemed like Persi was getting both barrels. "You could have been turned into a wolf, or a stag or a bear or anything? How could you help save Olympus if that had happened? How did you think _I'd_ feel, knowing that you weren't human any more because of _me_."

_Sorry to interrupt, Boss-lady,_ came Blackjack's voice, although only Persi could understand it, _but weren't you in need of a ride?_

* * *

Persi was freaking out. That was understandable. In the last twenty-four hours, she'd been part of a raid on a Titan stronghold, fought Luke, rescued a goddess, held up the sky and defeated the Titan general, Atlas. That was a full day even for him. And then, to top it all off, when Annabeth joined Artemis' Hunters, Percy _asked_ for Artemis to change him into an animal that could stay with her, only to wake up as a girl! As they flew, she riding Blackjack, while Guido carried Thalia and Annabeth rode Porkpie, she thought hard about what this change meant.

It was bad enough coping with the outward changes, for instance, her breasts. They weren't ridiculously big, but they were there, and the shift in body mass was something Persi was still not used to. She was very carefully not thinking about the corresponding absence of a certain piece of Percy's anatomy. Even walking felt... off. The differences in skeletal structure weren't that big between male and female, but they were significant. The slight difference in the way the hips fit together, the change in how the elbows were shaped... everything added up to re-learning how to use her body over a time period... "_Oh,no,_" she thought, struck by the _other_ connotation of that word. "_I'm going to have periods now!_"

With the periods and other physical changes there came hormonal shifts, changes in the way she would feel about things, outbursts of uncontrolled emotion... and all this was because she wouldn't let Annabeth leave her behind. A glance towards Porkpie and his rider told her everything she needed: It was _still _worth it.

Her mind seemed much the same as it used to be when she was Percy, but there were some changes. Running her mind back over various locker room scenes in her head confirmed that boys did nothing for her. That was both a relief, and a worry. While Persi thought it would have been weird to feel that way, shouldn't a girl automatically like guys? Or was it just a familiarity with them that meant they were too everyday to register? Or maybe she was just gay? That was really something she had to sort out, and soon. Other things were still the same, too, such as a love of the sea, and her liking for blue food wherever she could find it. Her temper was still short, even if she did hesitate for a thought or two before acting now. But there were differences, too, changes that she found when she went looking for how much of _her_ was the same as _him_.

Percy had been indifferent towards his academic studies, but now saw it as another form of hunting, with knowledge as both prey and prize, for a start. She was still dangerously loyal to her friends, but now she was more careful that they were her friends. Then there was the other side, the legacy of her godly father. Was that still the same?

Her thoughts a mess, Persi at least managed to settle on her new name... She'd have to check that it wasn't insulting to Hades' wife, but she liked the sound of Persephone Jackson.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:**_ I apologise, but I do not own the characters, world or concepts presented in the Percy Jackson books, including and not limited to both the '_Percy Jackson and the Olympians_' and the '_Heroes of Olympus_' series. Those belong solely to Rick Riordan, not that I'd turn them down, mind you. The story I write here is solely for enjoyment, both mine and others, and I get nothing from this except the warm fuzzy feelings from a story told well... I hope.

_**Olympus Divided.**_

_**Chapter 2: The Consequences of Choice.**_

The three pegasi had probably set some kind of record on their way to New York, and the girls riding them spent some of that time, short as it was, talking. Persi had to be coaxed into joining the conversation as she tended to brood over her changes. How was she going to explain to Mom, for a start?

"At least I won't be arguing with my dad and his wife," Annabeth said, finally broaching what had always been a sensitive subject to her in order to sidetrack Persi. "I was kind of worried that it would hurt to do this, join the Hunters, I mean, and leave them behind. Surprisingly, he said he was proud of me. He said something about preferring Athena, though... I wonder what he meant by that?"

Thalia grinned at her younger friend's blatant attempt to drag their gender-switched companion into conversation. Of course, if it worked, there was no way she could tease the brainy blonde, but she hoped it _would _work. Persi just looked... overwhelmed. Thalia herself had thoughts of joining the Hunt now and then, feeling that perhaps she should avoid this prophecy everyone had hinted at, even if no-one actually told them the words.

Persi spoke up, but the usual energy Percy would have put into it was absent. "So what happens now?" she asked.

"We have to train for a while, I guess, get the skills we'll need to be Hunters," Annabeth answered her green-eyed friend. "You haven't sworn an oath yet, but if Artemis thought you were going to be some kind of animal, she wouldn't have expected one... maybe you should?"

Persi was silent for a moment. "But there's that prophecy," she said, finally. "No-one's come out and told us what it is, besides the fact that it deals with a child of the Big Three and their turning sixteen. I don't know, it just feels like running away from it..."

Thalia interrupted her. "Really? Why does it feel that way? I'm considering the Hunt, because I'm sure not as suited to the big hero stuff as, well, you are."

Persi again thought before speaking, a new habit that seemed to come with the girl's body she now possessed. "I don't know about that, Thals," she replied. "You were right there with us, and you didn't back down from Atlas himself. _I_ think you have what it takes." The lights of New York City were now passing below them as they whistled through the air at speed.

Annabeth chimed in. "Besides, do we really want to let Luke and Kronos have an extra year for this? Isn't it a basic strategy to deny your enemy any resources you can?" she queried. As Porkpie slipped a little closer to Blackjack, she heard Persi's soft cursing, and answered her unspoken disbelief.

"He survived, Persi," she said. "I'm certain of it. I don't like it, and I want him to hurt like he hurt me, if he's capable of it, but I don't want to fool myself. Luke seems too important to this war for Kronos' side to let him die."

Persi didn't like it, but as always, her grey-eyed friend was right, and kind of pretty... "_No, bad thoughts,_" she berated herself as her mind drifted again into territory she just wasn't ready to confront yet. To cover the stare, she spoke quickly. "I hate to say it, but you're right, Annabeth." Turning her face forwards, she called out and pointed. "Look, there's the Empire State Building, we're close." Indeed, the building was a beacon in the night, and high above it, an island of light was Olympus, brightly shining as the winter solstice an the Council of the Gods began.

* * *

Landing in a courtyard on the outer reaches of the island of light in the sky that was Olympus meant that they didn't have the elevator ride's worth of time to come up with a plan, and as Blackjack and the other winged horses took off once more, Annabeth did the only thing she could think of, flicking a golden drachma through the nearest rainbow and calling on Iris for assistance. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, I beg of you a favour," she intoned, keeping her voice low. "Let my Lady Artemis know that we have arrived... but we have a problem, and need her counsel."

Finishing her message, she turned back to her two best friends. "_Ironic, really,_" she thought to herself as she and Thalia hugged the shell-shocked Persi between them, "_that both of them have had big problems with transformations..._"

The daughter of Zeus had spent years as a pine tree, and back when she'd been male, Persi had been transformed by Circe into a guinea pig, and now there was this. It was a huge mess, and none of them could even begin to guess how to handle it.

It was a matter of moments before the goddess of the hunt arrived, but she was not alone. With her was the dark and dour Hades, and wise Athena. The presence of the two other gods did nothing for Persi's composure. "What seems to be the problem, my Hunter?" Artemis asked as they closed, both taking the lead and staking her claim to Athena's daughter. Athena did not seem to mind, however. Perhaps she thought Annabeth becoming a Hunter was a wise choice, but the half-blood girl didn't want to make assumptions... that was never wise.

Having been addressed directly, she answered. "My Lady Artemis, Mother, Lord Hades," she began, nervously, "the problem lies in the blessing you gave Perseus Jackson. I understand that it has never been used as such before, but the manner of its working has had... unexpected results."

Athena had started to lose interest when Annabeth brought up the Jackson boy, but her daughter's carefully precise wording had intrigued her, almost against her will. She looked again at the other two maidens, noting their colourations, and the ill-fitting clothes on the one between the others, and came to a very quick and very accurate conclusion. The only reason she did not collapse in shock was that it would be undignified to do so. Reaching out and lifting the middle girl's chin, she met the sea-green gaze of Poseidon's child.

"This _is_ a problem," she said, not unkindly, but not with any encouraging warmth, either. "I highly doubt even the Oracle could have seen _this_ event's occurrence. Obviously, your old name no longer suits. Have you thought on a new one?"

Persi nodded. She didn't speak however, her voice was too raspy from a combination of nerves and crying into Blackjack's mane on the journey to manage more than a croak. Instead, Thalia spoke up, although she still struggled with the proper pronouns. "Lord Hades, Uncle," she said, almost timidly, a manner quite out of character for the daughter of Zeus. "We are of the opinion that in order to make the transition easier on... her... that we still call... her... by a familiar name. There was only one name that fits this, and... she... insisted we ask you first, so to avoid insult to you or your wife. She wishes to be Persephone, Persi for short, Jackson."

Hades' habitual glare swung in Persi's direction, measuring the girl. Looking closer at the details of her face, he could see some features that had been on the boy who, barely two years ago, had infiltrated his realm to fight or trade for his mortal mother, refused to sacrifice his friends to save her, and perhaps most importantly, believed him as to the theft of his Helmet of Darkness. His own brothers would have been impossible to convince, he knew, and they had known him for thousands of years. "I believe my wife would enjoy having her name associated with something other than being abducted, Persi Jackson."

* * *

They still had to be brought before the council, but the slight interruption meant that the other gods were not on their thrones, but rather scattered about the throne room discussing things in small groups. Worried by how she would be received, Persi hung back from the others, and tried to remain as little noticed as possible.

As the gods began to return to their thrones, standing in a stylized 'U' shape with Zeus and Hera at the head of the room, Poseidon stopped for a moment and considered the newly arrived half-bloods. Thalia Grace was easily recognised, and Annabeth Chase was unforgettable as his son's best friend. He didn't see Percy, though, although with what he'd gone through, the boy might still have been laid up in an infirmary bed... holding up the sky was not an easy task even for gods, as Artemis had been only too willing to attest, and Percy was half-mortal. He didn't recognise the last girl, probably some Huntress, although she must have been very new as she lacked the slight silver to her aura that would have reflected her oath. "_Maybe she hasn't been sworn in yet,_" he pondered. There was some kind of connection there, he realised when he couldn't stop looking, and as he got closer to the strange girl, he tried to figure out what it was. There was a... flavour (if that was the right word)... to the connection that vaguely reminded him of Percy's mother. Then he was right next to her and paused...

Persi was aware of the sea god's approach, and scared of him. She had no idea how he'd react, how he'd respond to her changes... She expected the worst, that her father would reject her completely or that he'd fail to believe she was his, or that... She struggled with her own fears, fighting them back into the depths of her mind. The next words out of Poseidon's mouth were _not_ what she had ever expected, and terrified her beyond reason...

"I don't believe I know you, and yet there is some connection between us..." Poseidon said in a low voice. "I believe we should meet after this council and get to know each other." Poseidon had figured out the connection was that of father and child, but he had no recollection of a daughter who would be this age. His last daughter that he knew of had died during that fight mortals called World War Two, up against some Japanese demi-god in the Pacific somewhere. So he set his mind and extended what he _thought_ was a well-worded invitation to find out about a family the girl probably had never known she had...

In Persi's defence, the transformation had been as stressful mentally and emotionally as holding up the sky long enough for Artemis to fight was physically and spiritually. The strain and stresses of the previous day had been nothing to sneeze at, either, compounding a bad situation into an even worse one. To hear those words, which had last been heard at school from a jock picking up a cheerleader, was simply the single straw that broke the camel's back, and she snapped. A terror-filled, choked sob whimpered from her, and then anger poured in, replacing the fear, and sorrow, and uncertainty with a blinding rage that reached out around her and snatched at whatever it could. The waters in the fountains of Olympus raised from their rest and answered, even as the buildings began to tremble as the earth beneath them quivered, and Poseidon's eyes widened.

The sea god could tell something had gone wrong, but not what. If he'd doubted for a second that this girl was his child, that doubt was now banished. The waters answered her, the ground quaked at her rage, and all that power, which should not have been _capable_ of being hidden as long as it obviously had for her to be this age, focused down to a single point... him.

Within their own domain, a god was supreme. Poseidon was the Lord of the Seas, the Earthshaker, and numerous other titles besides. The problem was, he was _not_ in his domain... Olympus was far from the seas, and the earth of Olympus was not his to shake, being the domain of Zeus, where a Styx-bound oath between the three brothers kept him from such behaviour. The girl, a half-blood, was not bound in that manner, and so her powers, smaller than his own, had a kind of temporary advantage... and a concentrated hurricane that was now headed for _him_.

As the sea god lifted himself from the ungainly sprawl at the seat of his throne that the panicked girl had driven him to with the assault of Olympus' waters, the quaking of the ground now vanished, and the water itself returning to its place, the sea god stared as the girl, black-haired, save for a single silver streak met his gaze with his own eyes, turned and fled the throne room, leaving her own tears in her wake.

* * *

Annabeth and Thalia had frozen the moment Poseidon had spoken, understanding that those were the worst possible words to say at that moment. As Thalia shook her head, her blonde friend met the gaze of Artemis and at the slight nod she received, bowed and went in pursuit of the fleeing Persi, praying to her Lady that she could catch up to her friend. As she ran after the girl, she felt, if only for a moment, a flash of outrage that Persi's own father could have done that, before remembering that Persi's transformation had most likely prevented the sea god from recognising his 'son' in the girl he'd seen.

Thalia spent some time glaring at the slightly bewildered sea god, who she could see was working himself onto quite a state of temper. As Artemis rose from her throne and spoke of the troubles that had been set in motion, and the tribulations she had been put through, Poseidon fumed quietly. She finally came to the end of her tale, and concluded with the story of the aftermath.

"In response to her betrayal by Luke Castellan, Annabeth requested, and I granted, entrance to the Hunters of Artemis, and Perseus Jackson made a far less orthodox request," she said, gaining her uncle's attention as if the centre of the cosmos had shifted. "He asked that I use the curse I used on such as Actaeon and Callisto on him, so he could follow his friend wheresoever she went." Athena nodded, having expected that. After all, the boy's fatal flaw had been, and still was, most likely, personal loyalty. Poseidon was about to burst with fury as he, too, got to his feet.

"You mean to tell us, to tell _me,_ that my son was turned into some animal?" he very nearly roared, verging on breaking his Stygian oath in his anger.

The goddess of the hunt met his sea-storm eyes with her own moon-silver gaze. "No," she replied, partially collapsing his anger. Her next words nearly set it up again, though. "I did grant his boon, but I wished it to be a blessing, not a curse, so I told it to make him into what she needed most, to help her most in the Hunt. I fully expected him to become her hound, or a stag she might ride. But even I was surprised by the transformation when I discovered what had happened, seeing as I had to leave before it was complete to bring word of the events before this council."

She sighed. "Father, my half-sister was present for the whole thing, and can vouch for such truth as I did not see," she nodded in Thalia's direction as Poseidon's mind caught up, at least partially, with her words, and the bottom dropped out of his rage as he paled. Surely she couldn't mean...

Hades placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "The third half-blood girl," he announced, confirming the sea god's dread, "was Poseidon's _son_ as little as a day gone. Now, though she is still his child, she is Persephone Jackson." In a quieter voice he spoke so only the sea god could hear him. "And lest I miss my guess, she thinks her father just tried to hit on her..."

Poseidon felt sick...

* * *

Persi opened her eyes. She wasn't sure how far she'd run, or where to, everything had simply narrowed down to the need to _run_. Turning her head on the comfortable pillow she was certain hadn't been there when she'd finally passed out from total exhaustion, of body, mind, heart and spirit, she saw herself in a small clearing, much like a forest thicket, under a small pavilion. The pillow turned out to be Annabeth's lap, and the sensation that had woken her was the blonde girl's stroking of her hair, a comforting gesture that she missed, now that it had stopped. She saw tears falling from her friend's closed eyes, and immediately reached up and wiped them from Annabeth's cheeks.

Startled, Annabeth's steel-grey eyes sprang open, and saw Persi, a soft, vulnerable Persi, who in concern for her friend's tears, had left herself wide open. It was a measure of trust she had never received before. As Athena's daughter gazed into the eyes of the sea god's daughter, she felt... _something_ stir, a wonderful, yet frightening sensation, to trust the other girl as much, and to prove worthy of _her_ trust, of her... no, she couldn't bring herself to admit it, to realise that she did... would mean that she had... and all along, she been expecting him to hurt her so she could point at it and say "See? I knew that would happen!" But it hadn't. Percy, now Persi, had proven himself over and over, and now proved herself yet again, pushing all her own pain and confusion aside, simply because of the tears Annabeth had shed... for _her_, not that she could know that. And for some reason, she flicked a glance down and then back, suddenly all-too-aware of Persi's lips...

Persi had been feeling heart-sore for some time, and had not had time to catch her equilibrium, to re-centre herself, to find out the exact differences between Perseus and Persephone. She couldn't tear her eyes from her friend's, and she didn't pull her hand from her cheek after brushing away the girl's tears. Her thumb traced the line of Annabeth's cheekbone, a small and involuntary motion, but not one she'd have stopped if she could. Catching the flickering glance the blonde made towards her mouth, Persi blushed like... well, like a maiden, an understandable comparison, now, and made a connection within her mind. The reason behind it all, the boon, the quest, the worry, the emotions she couldn't identify... It all came clear in a single burst, even as she put her own issues aside to deal with whatever made Annabeth cry.

She didn't realise she was speaking until she heard her own voice, in tones of wonder. "I love you, Annabeth Chase."

* * *

In the distant throne-room, Artemis paused as Annabeth's oath shivered and grew stronger, and Aphrodite turned to face something or someone beyond the walls... and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer:**_ I apologise, but I do not own the characters, world or concepts presented in the Percy Jackson books, including and not limited to both the '_Percy Jackson and the Olympians_' and the '_Heroes of Olympus_' series. Those belong solely to Rick Riordan, not that I'd turn them down, mind you. The story I write here is solely for enjoyment, both mine and others, and I get nothing from this except the warm fuzzy feelings from a story told well... I hope.

_**Olympus Divided.**_

_**Chapter 3: A Parting of Ways.**_

Persi's return to the throne-room was far less hasty and emotional than her exit,and she was very nervous. Annabeth had been mostly silent since the sea-eyed girl had blurted out her feelings, but had brushed aside the protests of 'innocent love' by placing two fingers on Persi's mouth. "I _saw_ how you felt, in your eyes," she'd said, "and there was no deception, no hiding what you felt. You _meant_ what you said, Persi. I need to think about this, and I'll give you an answer soon, alright?"

Persi's nod was all she'd needed, apparently, and she had gently led the sea god's daughter back to face the Olympians again. "Persi barely caught the muttered words, "...and if Lord Poseidon ruins it again, you can always join the Hunt, now."

* * *

The sea god couldn't believe it. How had he not seen the features of Percy underneath this... curse. Looking at the girl from his throne, he could see it now. That silver streak was from holding up the sky, too long doing that would mark any demi-god. The black hair and sea-green of the eyes, that was his child alright, and he was mentally kicking himself for using those particular words. He approached his _son_ (he insisted on thinking of him that way), and was anguished by the apprehension the 'boy' demonstrated. "I'm sorry, Percy," he said, and everyone present _heard_ the slight difference in inflection that said he still thought of the half-blood as his _son_. "I should have been clearer with my words. Once Artemis removes this curse, I'll make it up to you."

Artemis stared at him. "Uncle, I can no more remove this 'curse' as you put it than Apollo could stop bad poetry," she said, ignoring her twin's aggrieved "Hey!" in the background. "First, the 'curse' is irreversible. Second, _boys_ are not part of my domain. And third, this was a _blessing_. Those don't have 'cures'." She knew that she risked setting off his temper again, but she pushed forward. "And even if I could do it, you're forgetting a very important step, one that I am forced to remind you of as the patroness of maidens, one of which your child now _is_. Does Persi want to have it removed? She asked for it to follow her friend wherever the Hunt would lead her, and I will _not_ devalue that."

Poseidon was brought up short at that, and looked down at the child he'd just apologised to, and then ignored the wishes of. The way... _she_... was holding Annabeth's arm, she seemed more than happy to remain this way. "But, the Great Prophecy..." he muttered, sure that only the gods could hear him. "It says 'his'."

The Olympians were startled by Persi's voice. "What else does it say?" she asked, her voice now high and clear, the raspy croak from much earlier having finally eased. "What is the exact wording, and how should it be interpreted?"

* * *

Zeus looked at the mess of tension before him that his family was generating. This was not going to end well, even _he _could see that, and he wordlessly waved Hestia to him, her little-girl form often overlooked as the goddess of hearth and family approached. "What do you need of me, my Lord and little brother?"

A spark of inspiration jolted through him, there was something there, but he'd have to chase it down later. "What do you think?" he asked, with a subtle gesture at the argument that was about to explode. "How can we save ourselves from this?"

Hestia sighed. "We can't," she replied. "With events as they are, Olympus will be divided. We can only hope it will be mended at a later point, though hopefully not too much later." She ran her gaze over the family. "Poseidon's anger over Perseus, I mean, Persephone, will not let him settle. The sea doesn't like being constrained, so he will need a strong hand to guide him. Artemis _can't_ back down without destroying herself, so we have two opposing views. Given that her daughter made the choice, Athena will side with her, and the two children will not let others part them. Look at Aphrodite, she sees something there to meddle with, so she'll help them, while Ares and Dionysus will join Poseidon just to oppose the young heroes. Apollo will be on that side as well, Persi being a boy once is not something he'll overlook. He's a little too protective of Artemis. Hermes and Hephaestus can see each side of the conflict and will most likely remain neutral, while Demeter sees no point to taking sides at all. Hades has respect for Persi, and feels honoured by the choice of her new name, so he'll be on the side that supports young Persi. You will stand with Poseidon, sky and sea together, and your wife shall stand with Artemis, as the girls are showing quite a lot of fidelity to each other. So we have three neutrals, five for Poseidon's stance and four for Artemis'. That imbalanced break will never mend. If I have to stand neutral, they need Hephaestus, but he would be a distant second choice, and the rift will be long in healing."

Zeus nodded. In its current crisis, Olympus was going to split, and could ill afford it. The shorter the duration of this rift, the better. "Then you had best side with them. If you can rally some of the lesser gods and goddesses as well, we might keep the Titans' forces from gaining too strong a hand. And on top of that, we have to tell them the Great Prophecy. As if things weren't bad enough..."

* * *

The lines had been drawn, and Olympus stood divided. Lord Zeus had managed to talk Poseidon down from all-out war, mostly by reminding him they already had one of those to deal with. He was gruff and reluctant, but he let the others 'badger' him into revealing the words of the Great Prophecy. He felt it was far too early to burden their children with this, but it still had to be done.

"_A half-blood of the elder gods,_" he began, a clear, unambiguous line to work with, he felt. "_Shall reach sixteen against all odds, And see the world in cursed sleep, The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze._" Silence filled the throne-room. Then Persi shook her head and commented.

"Well, _that's_ a real ray of sunshine, there," she muttered, loud enough for everyone to 'overhear' her. "But what does it _mean_?"

Apollo snorted. "It's actually quite clear, you know. A demi-god born of the big three, reaches sixteen, sees everything fall to a sleeping curse, loses his soul to a cursed blade, and then makes a choice about whether to save Olympus or not before dying." He was promptly glared at by the opposing faction.

Annabeth was working it over in her head. "It's awfully clear for a prophecy," she murmured. "_Too_ clear. The Oracle has _never_ been this straightforward with a prophecy since you blessed the first one with that gift, Lord Apollo." She tapped her chin as she thought.

Persi spoke up as the thought occurred to her. "Lord Zeus, could the term 'elder gods' be better defined? I mean is it talking about the gods of your generation, just the gods, the gods _and_ the goddesses, or just the eldest gods? No offence, Uncle, but aren't you the _last-born_ of the original gods? The whole thing seems as clear as granite to me."

The gods turned a newly critical eye on the wording of the prophecy. Apollo slapped his forehead. "Argh!" he exclaimed. "It's like Xerxes and the Hellespont all over again! _Should you cross the Hellespont, a mighty army shall fall_, she said. Never mentioned it was _his_ army."

Artemis stared at her twin. "How did you get to be the god of prophecy, again?" she wondered.

Apollo grinned. "Lost a bet."

* * *

The worst moments were when it came time for dealing with the Ophiotaurus, Bessie. The creature was an innocent as far as the half-bloods were concerned, and Persi asked that it be spared. "After all," she reasoned with the gods, "if its death will unleash the power to destroy Olympus, shouldn't we try to keep it alive as long as possible?"

Muted agreement, and reluctant nods answered the question, and after an argument about where the beast would be kept, the Ophiotaurus received a new home in the throne-room, the heart of Olympus.

* * *

Returning to camp wasn't an easy thing for Persi, and with the gods manipulating the mist, all things in the mortal world that referenced Perseus Jackson now mentioned Persephone, although they did nothing about her grades. _That,_ she was informed, was up to her. She was not exactly looking forward to her Mom's reaction, though. She still didn't understand why such a simple choice had been made such a big deal of. There was a line in the Great Prophecy that _might_ refer to it, but she didn't see how. A single choice had indeed 'ended _his_ days', in that Persi was no longer a he, but she didn't see how it could either preserve or destroy Olympus.

As the trio entered Camp Half-blood, with a nod to the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece and pine tree that marked the border, Thalia brought up the thought of she and Persi formally joining the Hunters. "With the confusion you pointed out about the Prophecy, it could be anyone who reaches sixteen that triggers it. You, me... even Katie Gardner, she turns sixteen in a few days. What more can we do?"

Persi thought carefully. "Just to be on the safe side," she said, "I think I might. But I don't feel right. I have this weird feeling that it's going to hit Nico... and I feel bad enough telling him we lost Bianca. He doesn't deserve that burden. No-one does. I'm not even sure we should give too much of our attention to it. Trying to decipher it could make it turn out against us, and trying to run from them never works... We should take it cautiously, and keep an eye out for events that might fit it, but make our own choices."

The others nodded absently as they arrived at the cabins, where they were promptly the centre of attention. As the other campers poured out of their cabins, and gathered around, they saw Annabeth, Thalia and a stranger. "Hey, where's Prissy?" called Clarisse, a daughter of Ares who gave her personal best to the goal of making Percy's stay miserable. "He finally kick it, and this is all you could get for a trade-in? Hey, new girl, let me introduce you to a tradition we have here..."

As Clarisse reached for the 'new girl', aiming to get her in a headlock and drag her off for a swirlie, Persi met the belligerent brunette's hand with her own, and pushed it back, at the same time hooking her leg behind Clarisse's knee, causing the larger half-blood to fall over and sprawl on her back. "I'll pass, thanks," she said. "I've seen you covered in toilet water once, and that was enough for one lifetime."

The larger girl rose angrily to her feet, ready for a fight, and launched herself at Persi... only to be dragged to a halt by Annabeth.

"Clarisse, stop it," she said as she dug her heels in. "You'll get the news when everyone else does, but for now, _back off!_" Amazingly, the daughter of Ares did, reluctantly, and very nearly growling, but she did.

As the trio passed everyone, leaving them all wondering _who_ the 'new girl' was, and why she had a camp T-shirt and necklace, they remained quiet, with Persi in the middle. On reaching the Big House, they were met by Chiron, who took one look at Persi and stepped back. "Oh, dear," he said, shocked and showing it. "I can tell this will be a long story, and the three of you look in need of hot chocolate and sandwiches. You'd better come in."

* * *

The tale didn't take that long to tell, and Persi and Annabeth left out the detail of what had been said in Artemis' glade on Olympus. That was just too personal to them, and they still hadn't fully come to terms with it themselves. But everything else was laid before Chiron, and the hard thought he obviously put in after hearing their story didn't help their nervousness, especially his reaction to the division of the gods.

"Crows take it," he cursed, something _no-one_ had ever heard him do. "Olympus can't afford to be divided now, not with the Titans on the rise and readying for war." While they agreed with him, the demigoddesses had few ideas on how to help him. Persi's observation about the Prophecy's seeming clarity actually being the worst kind of muddy ambiguity setting Olympus on its ear hadn't helped either. "So what do you plan to do from here?" the centaur asked them.

"Annabeth's already joined the Hunters," Thalia told him, "and I'm going to do the same. I'm not sure if Persi will."

Here the girl in question nodded, having made up her mind. "I will, too," she said as she did. "Where Annabeth goes, I go. Until she tells me different."

Chiron sighed. "Then that _might_ buy us some time. Yes, I say 'might'. With this confusion about the Prophecy that used to be so clear, nothing is set in stone. I just wish that you didn't have to go through with this."

* * *

The Hunters had not yet left Camp Half-blood, and Thalia and Annabeth were packing their things to be moving on. Thalia admitted that she didn't have as much to do, not feeling comfortable enough to unpack her stuff in the first place, so she was mostly helping Annabeth with her things. Persi didn't see the point in taking most of her things, as they didn't really fit any more. Her wristwatch/shield would need adjusting before it sat comfortably on her wrist again, and her clothing was both tight and loose in all the wrong places.

Word had quickly spread throughout the camp about who she was, and she was tired of getting stared at. She had one last, self-imposed task to perform, one she was _not_ looking forward to. She had to talk to Nico. She'd been avoiding it for too long.

She found him in the training arena, staring at the small statuette in his hand. When Persi arrived, the boy turned and glared at her. The rumours had even reached him, and the look on his face was produced by a combination of confusion, sorrow and rage. "You promised you'd protect her," he said, his voice flat and dead.

Persi nodded. "I tried," she replied. "I wasn't good enough. There was a point where one of us was going to hve to sacrifice themselves, or we'd all die. She wouldn't... she wouldn't let _me _do it. We never actually found her body, so she _could _be alive, the Oracle only said she'd be lost..."

Nico cut her off with a sharp motion of his hand. "She's dead." He bit out the words. "She's in Asphodel now, I can... I can _feel _it. And you broke your promise." There were tears in his eyes as he lifted the little Mythomagic statue. "I was obsessed with this game, and I wasn't there, bt you were. It should have been you, I know, I heard it. And when I woke up, there it was, this little trinket. It doesn't matter now, you know. I _hate _you, Persi Jackson. With everything I am, everything I have in me. I'm going to get her back, and then _you_ will answer to us both. You _will_ pay." He turned and walked from the arena, and the camp itself, leaving the sea-eyed girl crying as she watched him go, until Annabeth found her there an hour later, the discarded statue lying before her.

* * *

The Hunters had gathered their things, and were on the verge of leaving Camp Half-blood behind them. Thalia had sworn herself to her half-sister's service that morning, and had been immediately placed as the goddess' lieutenant, with Annabeth as her assistant. Persi had not yet sworn herself, however. "There's something I have to do first," she said when Annabeth pressed the issue. "I have to tell Mom what happened to me, and what will happen from here on out. I have to go home, before I can come home, if that makes sense?"

"If it did," the grey-eyed Hunter said, "I'd have to call you something other than Seaweed Brain, wouldn't I? Lady Artemis mentioned something about hunting muggers in Central Park in New York, we won't be that far away, I can visit if you want?" Athena's daughter had made little progress in navigating her own feelings, but she could see Persi's shining through. It was... not awkward, that would imply she didn't like how it made her feel... intimidating. Yes, it was a little scary that someone else would want her happiness to that degree, but it was also appealing... but there was her oath...

Persi saw Annabeth's eyes widen in realisation of some point, and her curiosity was piqued. "What is it?" she asked. "I know that look, you've had an epiphany, and I want to hear it now, young lady." She steadfastly pushed the 'epiphany' sequence from the 'Hook' movie back down inside her memory.

"Lady Artemis' oath..." Annabeth barely breathed, struck by something she thought she'd left behind forever. She swallowed nervously. "I thought, we probably all did, that it meant to leave romantic love behind us forever... but then why does it specifically say '_I turn my back on the company of __**men**_'?" Persi's heart fluttered and flip-flopped, or so it felt, and butterflies danced in her belly. She hadn't thought of _that_. Maybe... just maybe... Lady Artemis hadn't either?


End file.
